London open: Stocks fall amid Evergrande worries

London stocks fell in early trade on Monday following a weak Asian session, amid growing worries about Chinese property developer Evergrande.

At 0850 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 7,005.48.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Concerns around the property sector in China generally depressed Asian markets overnight, as Evergrande missed an interest repayment, exacerbating fears about contagion in the region.

"Further news is expected on a potential ‘major transaction’ regarding the company which could potentially ease some fears, although stalling economic growth in the region and a tightening of regulatory restrictions has not helped sentiment.

"UK investors have also been spooked by the myriad of current concerns. In addition to the globally pervasive issues of supply chain blockages and elevated inflation, there are also a number of downward earnings revisions which could threaten to derail some of the progress already made. The higher volatility and constant rotation between value and growth stocks is likely to persist in the near term, which clouds visibility for the FTSE 100’s generally cyclical constituents."

In equity markets, BT was under the cosh after a Telegraph article suggested that Sky is closing in on a deal with Virgin Media O2 to become an investor in the telecoms operator’s full-fibre broadband rollout.

Morrisons was in the red after US private equity group Clayton, Dubilier & Rice won an auction for the supermarket chain with a £7bn bid. The win was revealed by the Takeover Panel on Saturday. CD&R offered 287p a share, against a rival bid from Fortress, for 286p per share.

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group was knocked lower by a double-downgrade to ‘underperform’ at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

On the upside, online trading platform Plus500 rallied as it said it now expects 2021 revenue and core earnings to be ahead of analyst forecasts after delivering "further positive momentum" in the third quarter.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,005.48 -0.31%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,843.64 -0.58%
techMARK (TASX) 4,558.56 -0.53%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 290.00p 1.93%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 190.38p 1.26%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 144.36p 1.04%
Evraz (EVR) 576.40p 0.98%
Diageo (DGE) 3,561.00p 0.85%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 8,839.00p 0.75%
Informa (INF) 565.00p 0.75%
Sage Group (SGE) 703.80p 0.49%
Tesco (TSCO) 249.15p 0.48%
BAE Systems (BA.) 567.00p 0.35%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

BT Group (BT.A) 149.20p -6.07%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 285.80p -3.77%
Entain (ENT) 2,118.00p -1.76%
Prudential (PRU) 1,427.00p -1.62%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,830.00p -1.61%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 14,590.00p -1.55%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,332.50p -1.55%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 382.65p -1.54%
Royal Mail (RMG) 410.30p -1.51%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,468.00p -1.37%

FTSE 250 - Risers

AO World (AO.) 169.10p 2.73%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 1,407.50p 1.99%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 99.95p 1.63%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 274.50p 1.48%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 171.80p 1.06%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 79.76p 1.04%
Drax Group (DRX) 500.50p 0.95%
Murray International Trust (MYI) 1,088.00p 0.93%
Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) 3,610.00p 0.84%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 370.70p 0.82%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Frasers Group (FRAS) 607.50p -8.78%
Hilton Food Group (HFG) 1,116.00p -3.96%
Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 2,025.00p -3.80%
Reach (RCH) 335.00p -3.74%
Future (FUTR) 3,628.00p -3.46%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 1,308.00p -3.40%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 306.50p -2.70%
Clarkson (CKN) 3,805.00p -2.19%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 988.00p -1.98%
Tyman (TYMN) 413.00p -1.90%